Author: Goode & Bean, 1879

Alepocephalus bairdii Goode & Bean, 1879

Diagnosis: a large species, body quite elongate, moderately compressed, its greatest depth above pectoral fins. Head large, much greater than body depth; eye larger than snout, its hind margin before midpoint of head; tip of upper jaw reaching to below pupil; gillrakers 8-9 + 1 + 16-17 = 26-27. Pyloric caeca 14-18. Dorsal finrays 18-22, pectoral finrays 10-13, pelvic finrays 7-9, anal finrays 21-25, its origin about opposite dorsal fin origin. Scales small, 62-70 in lateral line. Colour: purplish-brown. Size: to 100 cm.

Habitat: engybenthic over ooze and sand bottoms at about 650-1,700 m, sometimes shallower (365 m in western North Atlantic); gregarious. Food: mostly coelenterates, but also decapods, tunicates, fishes. Reproduction: ovarian eggs reported to 4.5 mm in diameter.

Distribution: off Madeira and Morocco northward to Iceland and Greenland, but not North Sea or Norwegian coasts. Elsewhere, southward to 17 N, also western Atlantic, from Greenland to Grand Banks and 29° 52' N, 77° 09' W (unpublished record).

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Holt & Byrne, 1908: 37.
Otoliths (sagitta). Schmidt, 1968: 9, pl. 14.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Clupeiformes
Family Alepocephalidae
Genus Alepocephalus
Species Alepocephalus bairdii

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Alepocephalus bairdii Goode & Bean, 1879

Scientific synonyms and common names

Alepocephalus bairdii Goode & Bean, 1879

Synonyms:

Alepocephalus bairdii Goode & Bean, 1879, Proc. U.S. natn. Mus., 2: 55-57 (Grand Banks, at a depth of 366 m). Holotype: USNM no. 22468.
Mitchillina bairdii: Jordan & Evermann, 1896: 454.
Alepocephalus giardi Koehler, 1896, Annls Univ. Lyon, 26: 513-516, pl. XXVI (fig. 1) (Golfe de Gascogne, 800 to 1420 m). Two syntypes: MNHN no. B 2220.
Alepocephalus giardi: Collett, 1905: 40-44, pl. I (fig. 5) Holt & Byrne, 1908: 36-42, pl. III (fig. 2), pl. IV (fig. 1-2) Murray & Hjort, 1912: 394, fig. 49a, 262 Saemundsson, 1926: 389-400, fig. 216 Koefoed, 1927: 35-36 Jonsson, 1967: 194.
Alepocephalus bairdii: Sanz, 1919: 2-5, 2 fig. Gonçalves, 1941: 18 Lozano Rey, 1947: 69-70, fig. 9 Krefft, 1953: 269, fig. 1 Wheeler, 1969: 123, fig. 48 Maul, 1976: 10-11, fig. 2.
Alepocephalus rostratus (nec Risso, 1820): Maul, 1948a: 10-11, fig. 2.

Common names:

baird's smooth-head [En]
gjölnir [Is]

Collett, R.1905a. Meddelelser om Norges Fiske i Aarene 1884-1901(3 die Hoved-Supplement til 'Norges Fiske', III Slutning). Forh. Vidensk. Selsk. Krist., (7) :1-173.

Gonçalves, B. C. 1941. Colecção oceanográfica de D. Carlos I. Catálogo dos peixes. Trav. Stn Biol. marit. Lisb., (46): 108 p.

Goode, G. B.; Bean, T. H. 1879b. Description of Argentina syrtensium, a new deep-sea fish from Sable Island Bank. Proc. U.S. natn. Mus., 1: 261-263.

Goode, G. B.; Bean, T. H. 1879c. Description of Alepocephalus bairdii, a new species of fish from the deep-sea fauna of the western Atlantic. Proc. U.S. natn. Mus., 2: 55-57.

Holt, E. W. L.; Byrne, L. W. 1908b. Second report on the fishes of the Irish atlantic slope. Fish. Irel. scient. Inv., 1906 [1908], 5 :1-63, 2 fig., 5 pl. Also publ. in Rep. Sea inld Fish. Ire., 1906 [1909], 2: 141-202, 2 fig., 5 pl.

Jónsson, G. 1967. Sitthvad um sjaldgaefa fiska. Náttúrufroeoingurinn, 37 :193-205, 2 fig.

Jordan, D. S.; Evermann, B. W. 1896-1900. The Fishes of North and Middle America, a descriptive catalogue of the species of fish-like vertebrates found in the waters of North America, north of the isthmus of Panama. Bull. U.S. natn. Mus., (47), Part I, 1896: Ix+1-1240; Part II, 1898: xxx+ 1241-2183 ; Part III, 1898: xxiv+21843136; Part IV, 1900: ci+3137-3313, 391 pl. (958 fig.).

Koefoed, E. 1927. Fishes from the Sea-Bottom. Rep. scient. Results Michael Sars N. Atlant. deep Sea Exped., [tittle page: 1927,1932], 4 (1): 148 p., 55 fig., 6 pl.

Koehler, R. 1896. Résultats Scientifiques de la campagne du 'Caudan' dans le Golfe de Gascogne. Poissons. Annls Univ. Lyon, (3): 475-526, pl. 26-27 (14 fig.).

Krefft, G.1953a. Ein weiterer seltener Fisch aus dem Rosengarten. Fischwirtschaft, S:269, 1 fig.

Lozano y Rey, L.1947. Peces Ganoideos y Fisostomos, Mems R. Acad. Cienc. exact. fis. nat. Madr., ser.: Cienc. Nat., 11: xv+839 p., 190 fig., 20 pl.

Maul, G. E. 1948a. Monografia dos peixes do Museu Municipal do Funchal. Ordem Isospondyli. Bolm. Mus. munic. Funchal, 3 (5): 5-41, 16 fig.

Maul, G. E. 1976. The fishes taken in bottom trawls by R. V. Meteor during the 1967 Seamount Cruises in the Northeast Atlantic. Meteor Forsch. Ergebnisse, 22: 1-69.

Murray, J.; Hjort, J. 1912a. The depths of the ocean. A general account of the modern science of oceanography based largely on the scientific researches of the norwegian steamer Michael Sars in the North Atlantic. London, 1912: xx+821 p. 575 fig.+unnumbered fig., 4 maps, 9 pl.

Saemundsson, B. 1926. Fiskarnir (Pisces Islandiae). Islensk Dyr, 1. xvi+528 p., 266 fig.

Sanz, L. A. 1919. Datos para la fauna ictiologica de las costas de Santander. Boln Pescas, 4 (29) :1-16, 6 fig.

Wheeler, A. 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Macmillan, London, Melbourne and Toronto: i-xvii+1-163, 5+177 fig., +392 fig. (princ. sp.)+92 n. num. fig., 16 pl., maps.

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